Parent Demands that Book from Arthur Series is Banned in a Florida School District

This parent has a strange reason for wanting to ban this book

Parent who wants Arthur book removed from schoolPhoto byScreenshot/YouTube/@claycountydistrictschools877

Culture wars over education have swept over our great country and the latest casualties of the battle have been books. Inspired by groups like Moms for Liberty who attend school board meetings to have books they don't agree with pulled from school libraries and curriculums, many parents are exercising their ability to challenge books as well.

Although many would say it's gone too far already, the most recent parent complaint coming out of Florida is a little over the top. According to The Daily Beast, conservative activist of the No Left Turn in Education group Bruce Friedman filed a detailed complaint about a children's book that especially triggered him.

Arthur's Birthday, written by creator Marc Brown in 1989, features the famous aardvark attending a classmate's party that happened to fall on the same day as his birthday.

Arthur receives a glass bottle as a gift from his friend Francine, which has the words "Francine's Spin the Bottle Game" written on it. The text is a reference to the game Spin the Bottle, in which a bottle is spun in the center of a circle of young people, and the person who spun the bottle must kiss whomever it lands on.

Although no kissing took place in the story, Friedman took issue with the insinuation that the cartoon animals might make out, which he says has the potential to "damage souls."

"PROTECT CHILDREN!!" he wrote in his complaint. "IT IS NOT APPROPRIATE TO DISCUSS 'SPIN THE BOTTLE' WITH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CHILDREN."

Friedman's concerns came as the state of Florida has been implementing new legislation to ban or restrict lessons and books in public schools that touch on the subjects of race, LGBTQ issues, and gender. Most recently, the state's Board of Education passed new controversial standards on teaching Black history, which include teaching how "slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit."

The move has been a part of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' war against "wokeness," or ideas of inclusiveness he deems detrimental to the nation.

As of today, the fate of Arthur's Birthday is still being determined and is pending an Oversight Committee Review.